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Nicolas Colsaerts recovered from an early error to cruise Kingsbarns in 5-under-par 34-33=67 and end round one of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in a tie for top spot with Paul Dunne.

The Belgian made a double bogey-7 at the par-5 third hole, the sort of early score which plunges a dagger into the heart of touring professionals on a Thursday morning, but his response was magnificent. Immediately he ticked three holes in a row (4, 5 and 6) to be swiftly back under par for the week and he didn't stop there. A birdie-2 at the eighth allowed him to turn in 2-under and then he added more red at 12, 17 and 18 to join Dunne on 5-under in the clubhouse. They lead by a shot from five players, including defending champion Tyrrell Hatton. Colsaerts will play the Old Course, St. Andrews on Friday before the toughest test of all, Carnoustie, on Saturday. His past record in the event reads 3-for-6 with one top 30, when T9 in 2011.

World No. 10 Rory McIlroy has been idle on the PGA TOUR since exiting the FedExCup Playoffs with a T58 at the BMW Championship 13 weeks ago. Four days ago (Dec. 8th), he released his anticipated early-season playing schedule via Twitter (link below), which he described as "busy".

The 28-year-old's up-and-down season ended with a wimper, exiting the postseason with two results outside the top 30 and a MC defending at the Dell. He finished a career-worst 58th in the FEC standings with six top 10s among 12 cashes in 14 events, four of those top 5s, including a T4 at The Open. After winning the season-ending TOUR Championship in 2016 (and the FEC), the Ulsterman got off to a quick start with four top 10s in his first five TOUR starts, adding a P2 at the BMW SA Open (Euro Tour), which he played with an apparent back injury. A day after, an MRI revealed a stress fracture in a rib, causing him to miss seven weeks. The 13-time TOUR winner (131 career events), didn't win anywhere in calendar-year 2017, his first winless year since 2008, perhaps understandably. In addition to the rib, he also got married in April, signed a new, full-bag deal with TaylorMade in May, and changed caddies in August (at WGC-BI) to best friend Harry Diamond, who's staying on the bag for 2018.

Shubhankar Sharma completed a sensational victory in the Joburg Open at Randpark Golf Club, his interrupted final round of 3-under-par 33-36=69 leaving him three shots clear of second placed Erik Van Rooyen on 23-under 264 for a maiden European Tour title.

It was a five day masterclass from the unheralded 21-year-old Indian who had eight Asian Tour top tens in his log book, but only one in his last 15 starts. Apparently un-fazed he played the final 54 holes without one bogey, burst clear of the field with a middle 36 holes of 17-under, played eight solid holes on Sunday in 2-under (birdies at 2 and 6), was subjected to five hours of weather disruption and an extra night of contemplation, before he returned to the course Monday morning knowing nearest challenger Van Rooyen had a kick-in birdie waiting which would bring him within three. Sharma's response? He made birdie there himself, on his first hole of the day, and followed with nine back nine pars to seal the seal as Van Rooyen added only one more birdie. There was an extra prize up for grabs in the form of one of three Open Championship spots. A five-time winner on the Indian Tour, this was some way to announce himself to the rest of the world.

Lee McCoy finished his week strong at the Final Stage of Web.com Tour Qualifying School by posting a bogey-free, 7-under-par 33-32=65 to rack up a four-day tally of 28-under 260, good for the top spot on the leaderboard, two clear of runner-up finisher Sung-jae Im who fired a 12-under 60 in round three.

The Georgia Bulldog racked up 29 birdies to offset a lone bogey this week, down in the desert. Playing two rounds at Devil's Claw and two rounds at The Cattail, he didn't seem to mind which course he was facing, posting scores of 14-under-par at both tracks. McCoy made waves as an amateur on the PGA TOUR (solo 4th at 2016 Valspar) but missed the cut in his first six starts after turning pro. With this win he is fully exempt for the 2018 Web.com Tour season, giving him a good opportunity to play his way onto the PGA TOUR by year's end. Other notables to crack the top 45 include: 266- Curtis Luck; 270- Maverick McNealy, Sam Burns; 271- Cameron Champ 272- Wyndham Clark; 274- Michael Weaver. Those that finished inside the top 10 will be subject to the third reshuffle (after 12th event) and those finishing in the 11th-to-45th range will have to get to work quickly as they will be subject to the second reshuffle which takes place after 8 events.

With over five hours lost to the weather Shubhankar Sharma's quest for a maiden European Tour title stretched into a fifth day; the Indian was 2-under through seven holes of the final round in the Joburg Open at Randpark GC, 22-under for the week and four clear of Erik Van Rooyen.

Play was initially called off for the threat of thunder and lightning, but the storm progressed into heavy rain and hail which submerged much of the course. In the end it was decided to return to the course for a restart at 7:30 a.m. local time Monday. Sharma had been assured in making two birdies and five pars, but his title bid will be tested by Van Rooyen who is 4-under through eight and has a 3'0" birdie opportunity awaiting him on the ninth green. Tapio Pulkkanen (thru 8) and James Morrison (8) are a further four shots back.

Tapio Pulkkanen put it in reverse in round three of the Joburg Open at Randpark Golf Club, a 1-over-par 37-36=73 dropping him from one-shot leader to tied fifth and seven strokes behind Shubhankar Sharma.

After starting the day at 14-under following bogey-free rounds of 65-64, the Finn would have expected to kick on at a Firethorn Course softened by rain, leading to preferred lies. Instead, he ended at 13-under 202 after swallowing two bogeys and a double. To put his round into context, only two other players who ended the day inside the top 35 on the leaderboard shot over-par scores. Pulkkanen's difficult lap opened with two pars before he dropped shots at 3 and 5. He did slowly get back into red figures for the day after circles at 7, 12 and 14 but at 16 he suffered the bitter pill of a double bogey-6. He'll have to hope today was his one bad round and he can find a groove again in Sunday's closer.

Shubhankar Sharma followed his Friday 61 with a bogey-free 7-under-par 31-34=65 in Saturday's third round to move five clear of the field at the Joburg Open at Randpark Golf Club in South Africa.

The Indian, who sits at 20-under 195, has now played his last 36 holes in an eye-popping 17-under and has clear daylight over the chasing pack. It's led by Swedish Q-school grad Christofer Blomstrand, with James Morrison and Erik Van Rooyen a further stroke back on 14-under. They say it's hard to follow a super-low lap with another but Sharma made light of perceived wisdom by making splashing five birdies on his front nine, the first four coming in a burst at 2, 3, 4 and 5. After the turn, he settled a little but hit 20-under thanks to further gains at 14 and 15. The 21-year-old is clearly oozing confidence and his top 10 at the Hong Kong Open two starts ago shows that his performance so far hasn't come from nowhere.

Christofer Blomstrand fired two eagles in a sizzling third-round 10-under-par 29-33=62 at the Joburg Open in South Africa on Saturday to jump 35 spots up the leaderboard to solo second with 18 to play.

The Q-School grad from Sweden had been just one shot inside the cut line after rounds of 70-68 but burst through the field to finish at 15-under 200. However, that's five shots back from runaway leader Shubhankar Sharma of India. Blomstrand raced to the turn in just 29 blows after an eagle-3 at 4 along with birdies at 2, 3, 5, 7 and 9. He gave one back at 10 but connected three red numbers from 10-12 before draining a 20-footer for his second eagle of the round at 14. That meant he needed to play the final four holes in 2-under to record a 59 although it wouldn't have been official due to preferred lies being in play at the rain-softened Firethorn Course. In the end, he ran out of gas and followed pars at 15, 16 and 17 with a bogey at the last. He has a lot of work to do to reel in Sharma but Blomstrand will have a chance Sunday to win on just his 10th European Tour start.

Shubhankar Sharma torched the Bushwillow Course at Randpark GC for a 10-under-par 30-31=61 in round two of the Joburg Open, reaching 13-under 130 thru 36 holes and advancing 56 spots up the leaderboard to solo second, just one back from pacesetter Tapio Pulkkanen.

Players get just one lap of the easier Bushwillow this week but talk about cashing in! The Indian youngster had fired a 69 at the Firethorn on Thursday, his score compromised by three bogeys, including two at his final three holes. Today, it was all red numbers though and the 21-year-old scribbled 10 of them after five on each nine. Most notably, his set included gains on all four par 3s. Sharma arrived in South Africa showing some promising form with T10 in Hong Kong and T27 at last week's Mauritius Open.

Tapio Pulkkanen fully announced himself to the European Tour with a stunning birdie blitz that earned him the clubhouse lead in the Joburg Open at Randpark Golf Club; his 8-under-par 30-34=64 thrashing of the Firethorn Course leading to a 36-hole total of 14-under 129, two clear of Erik Van Rooyen. UPDATE: Pulkkanen ended the day one clear of Shubhankar Sharma. R2 will be completed on Saturday after a 'dangerous weather situation' halted Friday's action. No player yet to finish is better than 6-under

The tall, hat-wearing Finn graduated as the number one ranked player from the 2017 Challenge Tour and did so with very little experience of the main tour. His seasonal bow was the Hong Kong Open, where he missed the cut, but he has been superb through two rounds in Johannesburg and is still to register a dropped shot. Moreover he burst from the blocks on Friday morning with no less than six straight birdies from the first tee. After marking four pars he was at it again soon after the turn, dropping a left-to-right par-breaking attempt at the 11th from 15'0" and adding a birdie-4 at the 12th. He then parred his way to the clubhouse to confirm the halfway advantage. Daniel Brooks is third on 10-under.

Matthew Baldwin is down at 996 in the world rankings after injury and loss of form but he's on track for a good week in the Joburg Open at Randpark Golf Club thanks to a first-round 7-under-par 32-32=64 putting him just one behind early clubhouse leader Keenan Davidse.

The Englishman, perhaps boosted by watching his Liverpool team win 7-0 in the Champions League on Wednesday night, made a storming start with eagle-3 at the Bushwillow Course's opening hole and then went birdie-bogey-birdie at the next three. His following 12 holes produced 11 pars but also another eagle, this time at the 12th. The 31-year-old moved to within a shot of the lead thanks to a pair of closing birdies. Baldwin has missed his last five cuts in South Africa but did finish runner-up at the 2013 Nelson Mandela Championship. He now heads to the tougher Firethorn Course in round two.

Local man Keenan Davidse birdied half the holes and thrashed an 8-under-par 32-31=63 in round one of the Joburg Open at Randpark Golf Club, good enough for the early clubhouse lead. UPDATE:- No-one in the afternoon wave caught Davidse, but he ended the day with six golfers one shot behind him; all of the top seven played the Bushwillow Course on Thursday.

He leads by two shots from Matthew Baldwin and Mikko Korhonen, who are nearing the end of their rounds. Davidse went on his morning blitz at the Bushwillow Course, the easier of the two layouts being used over the first two days before the Firethorn Course is used solely on the weekend. The South African was fast out of the gate with birdies at 1, 4 and 5 but swallowed bogey-4 at the 6th to halt his charge. No matter, he picked up another shot at 8 and then ticked 11, 12, 14, 17 and 18 in a back-nine 31 to take the lead. What do we know about him? Well, he's the World No. 680, is 28-years-old and is playing in his 27th European Tour event. He's cashed in just six but did take T7 in this tournament last year when it was staged at Royal Johannesburg & Kensington GC. In terms of recent form, he finished fourth in the Sunshine Tour's Vodacom Origins - Final just two starts ago.